Journey in the Wilderness
The year was 1993. It was a banner year in my personal journey of faith. That summer I had the distinct privilege of serving the Lord on the mission field as part of a team partnership in Hong Kong. For eight weeks we utilized conversational English teaching camps to develop relationships with high school and college students that provided opportunities for us to share the love of Jesus Christ and the message of His gift of salvation. One week we led a Christian camp where each night was highlighted by a truly inspirational worship experience. Each of our team members took turns leading the music each night and my night came on the final night of the week.
I led the group of about 500 high school students in various choruses and hymns, both in English and the Cantonese dialect native to the region. The last song of the night was Amazing Grace. The first verse we sang in English and the second we sang in Cantonese. However, I nearly fell to my knees in worship at the sound that touched my ears when we sang the last verse. I encouraged the congregation to sing in their choice of language and the blend of Cantonese, English, and even some Mandarin Chinese shook my soul and ignited a fire of worship in my heart that brought me to my knees with tears streaming down my cheeks. Imagine the words sung in this beautiful mix:
“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.”
My words can hardly express the joy that enraptured my heart at the sound that echoed quietly through that auditorium. I shared this story with many others when I returned from that trip and the most shocking thing is that hardly anyone I told the story too seemed to be interested. Most would share some faint-hearted platitude like, “Well, it seems like you had an enjoyable time.” Or my favorite response was a curt, “That’s cool.” My own personal mountaintop experience reduced to simplicity. So I ran. Three years later, I became so discouraged that I left town.
Imagine how Elijah must have felt after his experience on Mount Carmel. He mocks, defeats, and destroys 850 false prophets of a foreign god before the entire nation. He demonstrates the power of the only Almighty God. The response: a death sentence. The very person the message was intended for spurned him and promised to deliver him to death. I used to wonder why Elijah ran, but now I understand.
Elijah forgot. Just like I forgot the promises of God when I returned from Hong Kong, Elijah forgot the word of God when faced with the fear for his life. This brash foreign queen was not afraid of the God that gave him the power to burn a saturated altar and kill all 850 of her prophets single-handedly. Just like I was afraid that I was alone in my experience with God, Elijah was afraid and he ran. Fortunately he had the presence of mind to run to God at Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai). But all along the way, God reminded His prophet of very specific promises that would prove to be the bedrock of this prophet’s faith to come.
1. The Reminder of God’s Provision - (1 Kings 19:3-7) A despondent Elijah, wishing to die, sleeps under a tree in the Wilderness of Sin. It is here that God reminds him of who provided him with bread and water during the three and half year famine. It was here that he reminded him of the bread he provided while in Zarephath. It was here that God provided for him again, so that he might have strength for the journey ahead. Just as God provides physical nourishment for our physical journey, he provides the spiritual nourishment for our spiritual journey. All we have to do is remember to get up and eat.
2. The Reminder of God’s Perseverance - (1 Kings 19:8,9) His nourishment provided Elijah with the strength to travel for forty days and nights. What may not seem like a lot with God, can go a long way to bringing you to where He wants you. The Psalms remind us that His mercies endure forever and are made new every morning. No matter how long the journey may seem, He will give you the strength to make it through.
3. The Reminder of God’s Power - ( 1 Kings 19: 9-12) How powerful is our God who can rain fire from heaven, breathe wind that can break mountains, and shake the very foundations of the earth so that it burns with fire! Our God can control the weather and hold the earth in the palm of His hand. He can withhold rain and unleash storms, and yet with a word calm that same storm. If God has so much power over nature, how much more so can He have power over our enemies?
4. The Reminder of God’s Presence - (1 Kings 19:12,13) What is the evidence of an unseen God? Nature? Miracles? Wonders? None of these come close to the convicting evidence of His Word. In 1 Kings 17 and 18, six times it is noted “the word of the Lord came to Elijah”. It was AFTER this that the miracles occurred, not before. And now, the word of the Lord comes after a majestic show of God’s power, however it is specifically noted that God was not in those powerful displays, but rather His presence is noted by the sound of gentle whisper.
5. The Reminder of God’s Protection - (1 Kings 19:15) God will ordain the protection of His prophet. Just as He protected Him by hiding him by the Brook Cherith and with the foreign widow in Zarephath, God will protect him by anointing a new king over a rival nation that will bring destruction to the kingdom of Ahab. When your own world seems its darkest, God will protect you and keep you safe from harm, even if you don’t see how.
6. The Reminder of God’s Providence - (1 Kings 19:15-17) Just as with Job, nothing happens in our world that is not filtered through the hand of God. God is in control of our destiny. He is not the puppet master, but he is the Master of all things. He ordains kings. He is the ruler of all nations. The King of kings. The Lord of lords. And it all is a part of His divine plan for the ultimate redemption of the world.
7. The Reminder of God’s People - (1 Kings 19:18) Elijah’s chief complaint, as was mine, is that he felt alone. No one else cared. Nobody was as committed to the cause as he was. The fact, we are not alone. The prophet Obadiah had even hidden prophets in caves to protect them from Jezebel and Ahab’s wrath (1 Kings 18:4). God has provided the church to us as a means for encouragement when we are down, for building us up in our faith, for growing us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. He will not leave us alone. We are His remnant.
With these bedrock truths, God himself reminded His prophet who was in control in Israel. God reminded Elijah who he belonged to. Today God still reminds His children who is in charge and who we belong to. In 1996, God reminded me of who I belonged to while I was wandering through my own Wilderness of Sin. As His word promised, He restored unto me the joy of my salvation and His mercies were made new in my heart.
All of these reminders, however pale in comparison to the simple reminder that we are not alone in this world. While we do have His Holy Spirit living within us, He has commissioned the church to be His representative in this world to encourage and build up His children into His likeness. As imperfect as we may be individually, God wouldn’t have it any other way for it is in our inherent weakness that His sufficient grace is made perfect.
I led the group of about 500 high school students in various choruses and hymns, both in English and the Cantonese dialect native to the region. The last song of the night was Amazing Grace. The first verse we sang in English and the second we sang in Cantonese. However, I nearly fell to my knees in worship at the sound that touched my ears when we sang the last verse. I encouraged the congregation to sing in their choice of language and the blend of Cantonese, English, and even some Mandarin Chinese shook my soul and ignited a fire of worship in my heart that brought me to my knees with tears streaming down my cheeks. Imagine the words sung in this beautiful mix:
“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.”
My words can hardly express the joy that enraptured my heart at the sound that echoed quietly through that auditorium. I shared this story with many others when I returned from that trip and the most shocking thing is that hardly anyone I told the story too seemed to be interested. Most would share some faint-hearted platitude like, “Well, it seems like you had an enjoyable time.” Or my favorite response was a curt, “That’s cool.” My own personal mountaintop experience reduced to simplicity. So I ran. Three years later, I became so discouraged that I left town.
Imagine how Elijah must have felt after his experience on Mount Carmel. He mocks, defeats, and destroys 850 false prophets of a foreign god before the entire nation. He demonstrates the power of the only Almighty God. The response: a death sentence. The very person the message was intended for spurned him and promised to deliver him to death. I used to wonder why Elijah ran, but now I understand.
Elijah forgot. Just like I forgot the promises of God when I returned from Hong Kong, Elijah forgot the word of God when faced with the fear for his life. This brash foreign queen was not afraid of the God that gave him the power to burn a saturated altar and kill all 850 of her prophets single-handedly. Just like I was afraid that I was alone in my experience with God, Elijah was afraid and he ran. Fortunately he had the presence of mind to run to God at Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai). But all along the way, God reminded His prophet of very specific promises that would prove to be the bedrock of this prophet’s faith to come.
1. The Reminder of God’s Provision - (1 Kings 19:3-7) A despondent Elijah, wishing to die, sleeps under a tree in the Wilderness of Sin. It is here that God reminds him of who provided him with bread and water during the three and half year famine. It was here that he reminded him of the bread he provided while in Zarephath. It was here that God provided for him again, so that he might have strength for the journey ahead. Just as God provides physical nourishment for our physical journey, he provides the spiritual nourishment for our spiritual journey. All we have to do is remember to get up and eat.
2. The Reminder of God’s Perseverance - (1 Kings 19:8,9) His nourishment provided Elijah with the strength to travel for forty days and nights. What may not seem like a lot with God, can go a long way to bringing you to where He wants you. The Psalms remind us that His mercies endure forever and are made new every morning. No matter how long the journey may seem, He will give you the strength to make it through.
3. The Reminder of God’s Power - ( 1 Kings 19: 9-12) How powerful is our God who can rain fire from heaven, breathe wind that can break mountains, and shake the very foundations of the earth so that it burns with fire! Our God can control the weather and hold the earth in the palm of His hand. He can withhold rain and unleash storms, and yet with a word calm that same storm. If God has so much power over nature, how much more so can He have power over our enemies?
4. The Reminder of God’s Presence - (1 Kings 19:12,13) What is the evidence of an unseen God? Nature? Miracles? Wonders? None of these come close to the convicting evidence of His Word. In 1 Kings 17 and 18, six times it is noted “the word of the Lord came to Elijah”. It was AFTER this that the miracles occurred, not before. And now, the word of the Lord comes after a majestic show of God’s power, however it is specifically noted that God was not in those powerful displays, but rather His presence is noted by the sound of gentle whisper.
5. The Reminder of God’s Protection - (1 Kings 19:15) God will ordain the protection of His prophet. Just as He protected Him by hiding him by the Brook Cherith and with the foreign widow in Zarephath, God will protect him by anointing a new king over a rival nation that will bring destruction to the kingdom of Ahab. When your own world seems its darkest, God will protect you and keep you safe from harm, even if you don’t see how.
6. The Reminder of God’s Providence - (1 Kings 19:15-17) Just as with Job, nothing happens in our world that is not filtered through the hand of God. God is in control of our destiny. He is not the puppet master, but he is the Master of all things. He ordains kings. He is the ruler of all nations. The King of kings. The Lord of lords. And it all is a part of His divine plan for the ultimate redemption of the world.
7. The Reminder of God’s People - (1 Kings 19:18) Elijah’s chief complaint, as was mine, is that he felt alone. No one else cared. Nobody was as committed to the cause as he was. The fact, we are not alone. The prophet Obadiah had even hidden prophets in caves to protect them from Jezebel and Ahab’s wrath (1 Kings 18:4). God has provided the church to us as a means for encouragement when we are down, for building us up in our faith, for growing us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. He will not leave us alone. We are His remnant.
With these bedrock truths, God himself reminded His prophet who was in control in Israel. God reminded Elijah who he belonged to. Today God still reminds His children who is in charge and who we belong to. In 1996, God reminded me of who I belonged to while I was wandering through my own Wilderness of Sin. As His word promised, He restored unto me the joy of my salvation and His mercies were made new in my heart.
All of these reminders, however pale in comparison to the simple reminder that we are not alone in this world. While we do have His Holy Spirit living within us, He has commissioned the church to be His representative in this world to encourage and build up His children into His likeness. As imperfect as we may be individually, God wouldn’t have it any other way for it is in our inherent weakness that His sufficient grace is made perfect.
posted by David Noland | 6:56 PM
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